What Would You Die For?
by MitsukiSora-dessu
Summary: *What would you die for?* Fuji wished he had an answer.  *What would you die for?* Ryoma was so naiive to think he had known the answer. A series of drabbles that focus on the thoughts of multiple people asked the same question. What would you die for?
1. Chapter 1

I dunno if this should stay as an extended drabble or turn it into a full length story. But so far its just a drabble o: I was asked this in school today. ^^"

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><p><strong>What Would You Die For? <strong>

"What would you die for?"

A simple question that had a simple answer. That was what he thought at the time when he had been asked as a child. He gave the simple, expected, answer.

"My family."

Thinking back on it now though the answer really isn't that simple. If you die for your family they will be the ones who feel the burden of guilt at having lived. Yet at the same time if they die for you you will be the one that has to suffer through the endless days of guilt.

Years after his childhood and the question is being asked once again, only this time he couldn't answer. "Who would you die for?" his teacher asked the class, giving instructions to write an essay on it that would be turned in tomorrow. For a whole hour all he could do was stare blankly at his equally blank piece of notebook paper that should have already had the start of a rough draft.

It wasn't until lunch came around and a hyper red-headed friend called his name that he moved. "Fuji!" his friend cried, jumping onto his back with a near bone crushing hug. Finally snapped out of his silent despair towards a question he, for once, didn't know how to answer he listened to Eiji's reason for attacking him from behind. "Ready for lunch?" Fuji chuckled, smiling at his friend as he stood up. "Sorry Eiji," he said in his soft, feminine voice that still had a mans strength, "I have to ask the teacher something." With that he walked out of the classroom, towards the teachers room, as his blank paper sat staring at the ceiling and was promptly forgotten.

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><p>"I'm sorry, Sensei," Fuji started with pure honesty in his voice, something that rarely happened, as he looked straight into his teachers eyes. "I won't be able to turn this assignment in on time."<p>

His teacher looked at him in surprise. "You've never turned an assignment in late Fuji. Is something wrong?" Fuji shook his head and then shrugged.

"I don't know. I can't answer it." And the teacher looked at him in shock, still surprised but now even greater, as if he had expected Fuji to answer with the same simplicity that the question was.

"The answer really isn't all that simple, Sensei, if you think about the emotional trauma it could potentially produce." Before his teacher could respond he turned away from him but was still able to catch the mumbled reply as he walked to the door.

"You don't have to take it so seriously, Fuji. It's not like you have to worry about something like that." Fuji looked over his shoulder, a sad smile on his face as he looked at his teacher.

"But there is always a possibility. Life isn't always sugar coated like the school system wants us to believe."

As the young man walked out the door, his delicate features and open expression making him look even more fragile than normal, the teacher remembered how Fuji's little brother died right in front of him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Another extended drabble! o: I dunno. I think I just like this question. Last time it was in Fuji's point of view, but even I didn't know whose it was until I threw Eiji in there and got him to say Fuji's name. o: Makes me wonder if you guys figured it out before Eiji came in. Well this ones easy to figure out. ^^ Read, Review, Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>What Would You Die For?<strong>

**Chapter 2**

It was the same question. The exact question that he had to answer back in America. A question that sounded so innocently simple but in reality was anything but. He told his teacher with the blank face that he carried with him over the years but back then their was a glimmer in his eyes.

"My cat, Karupin!"

He was so gullible as a child. Even going as far as believing he could beat his father in a tennis match one day. That was his goal, his dream, his entire life. _What would you die for_, he thought to himself as he held a bright neon yellow ball loosely in his hands, turning it in a slow circle as he leaned back against the back rest of the bench he was on. And his child voice rang in his ear, "My cat, Karupin!" He hadn't even thought of his family for an answer. Thinking about it now maybe that's why his teacher had looked at him in annoyance. He had chosen a pet over his own family. But what could one expect of a child?

There was no way to know what you would die for. Would you even want to die? Even if it was for something you loved? For _someone _you loved? _Could I really put someone through that guilt? _He asked his own mind, glancing down at the ball as if it had all the answers. But wondering about all this wouldn't get him anywhere, so with a sigh the boy stood up to go and return the ball he had taken when it flew at his head. He knew keeping his reflexes trained would come in handy one day.

A boy who was in his class spotted him first, yelling out that irritatingly loud voice of his, "Hey Echizen! Have you seen a ball?" Because of him other people started to notice him making his way to the green painted metal fence. Stupid Horio. Never knowing when to keep his mouth shut or at least how to be quiet. Kachiro made his way over to the fence first, a smile on his face as he asked in a much calmer manner, "Have you seen a tennis ball, Ryoma-kun?"

Ryoma nodded his head, looking at all the people, freshmen to third years, gathered in small groups around the courts. With a small shake of his head Ryoma realized that those people have probably never went out of their way to talk to other people and figure out what was really important wasn't their social cliches. With a mental sigh Ryoma tossed the ball over the fence to Kachiro, who wasn't able to catch it, and looked at all the members once again with something akin to sadness in his eyes. Until he saw a strikingly feminine brunette who was looking straight at him. The brunette's eyes were closed but slowly they opened, revealing a churning ocean blue that made Ryoma think of rolling waves crashing against each other. In an instant he realized that that young man went through the same thing he did. He's seen death up close.

"When are the sign-ups for the freshmen again?" Ryoma asked in his monotone, almost bratty, voice when Kachiro had finally managed to pick up the ball. The other boy looked at him, his head tilted to the side as he answered with a smile,

"Tomorrow."

That's when Ryoma realized he still had something to live for. He could live for a tomorrow. He could live for the start of something he had forever loved yet was certain he would have to abandon. He would face the reality that was so cruelly thrust upon him. And he would still be a live. _Once you die you die_, he thought with a hum of maturity, _and there is no way to come back from the dead and make things right again._


	3. Chapter 3

**The third chapter of What Would You Die For? This chapter is mostly dialogue truthfully. I'm stuck on how to continue it in Ryoma's view-point for chapter 4.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

Their first meeting was a glance into each others eyes. The boy was two years his junior and looked at him, straight in the eyes everyone else avoided, in understanding. They didn't say one word to each other yet there was already a mutual awareness between them. The next time he saw the boy was the very next day, in the same exact location. He was watching the court, observing the few matching actually taking place inside the green metal fence. Fuji took that opportunity to go and talk to him.

"Are you interested in tennis?: He asked the boy, placing a smile on his face and in his voice. Lightly golden eyes stared up at him, narrowing as a frown pulled at the corners of his mouth.

"If you don't want to smile then don't." The boy said, his voice holding a slight monotone that was, surprisingly, still cocky sounding. Fuji let his smile drop and his blue eyes open fully.

"What's your name?" Those golden cat-like eyes compelled Fuji to find out as much as he could of the boy.

"Ryoma. Echizen Ryoma."

"Fuji Syuusuke. A pleasure to meet you." And Fuji smiled a real genuine smile at the boy standing behind the green mesh of metal.

"Sempai," the boy, Ryoma, started softly as he looked into Fuji's eyes, "I hope you can enjoy tennis sometime soon." With that Ryoma turned away, leaving Fuji stunned.

"Wait!" he called but Ryoma ignored him and promptly disappeared from view.

Fuji didn't see Ryoma again until that spring. The boy signed up for the tennis team.

"Ryoma," Fuji whispered, his shiny brown hair falling into his shocked blue eyes.

"You know, Sempai," Ryoma started in that same soft voice from two months prior, "tennis was my only connection to anyone in my family. I hated it but there was nothing I could do to change it. Now I can't do anything. You shouldn't play tennis ust to try and fill a void tennis caused. All that does is make the void bigger until nothing can ever fill it." That was the most Fuji ever heard from Ryoma.

Tezuka had called the boy over, the coach pulling him into a hug as she talked to him. Apparently the boy knew the coach. But that didn't matter. Fuji was still thinking about what Ryoma had said. Tennis made Yuuta distance himself. Tennis drove a rift between them. Tennis was what he and Yuuta had played just moments before he died. But tennis was aslo one of the few things Fuji loved.


	4. Chapter 4

**Heyyyyyy guys. Here's chapter for of What Would You Die For? I kinda like it I kinda dont. I just feel like the writing style changed on this particular chapter =/**

_iyris_**- This chapter is dedicated to you. I went straight to work on chapter 4 after reading your review. I'm glad that my story made you think like it did. It makes me wonder what exactly you was thinking about. The question? Or how Ryoma and Fuji are finding an answer to that question? Anyway I hope you read this chapter. ^^ Please leave another review about what you're thinking. **

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><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

It started out slow. their friendship. Tentive conversations that barely lasted a minute. Glances from the corner of their eyes. Hesitant smiles that would slowly form into a laugh. Until finally there was a comfortable air hanging around the two who, surprisingly to everyone who knew Fuji and those who were starting to know Ryoma, got along perfectly with each other.

Ryoma swore that he would not take this friendship given to him for granted. _Cherish every moment ever given and repay that moment with something of your own_. But what could he give Fuji in return? Maybe he could show him the thrill of tennis again? The pure rapture it could cause if thoroughly enjoyed? He didn't know. _Give what you can give. Take what is given to you. _Thinking about his friendship with Fuji was making him remember many things both his mother and father once said to him. Their words played through his head like a broken record, beautifully haunting. _Hold everyone you love at an arms length, far enough for them to be safe, yet close enough for you to touch. _

When he decided to sign up for the Tennis Club he didn't expect other Sempai's to pick fights with him. Nor did he expect Fuji to watch with his captivating ocean eyes while he, Ryoma, carefully shredded the pride of his tormenting Sempai's. But that would work to his advantage if he wanted to show Fuji what tennis was really about. Though all of his plans changed the day they played against one another, cold droplets of water sliding down their skin as they ran around a court in the rain.

"My brother died in front of my eyes after we played a game of tennis."

He was shocked that Fuji would openly tell him something like that. Though he didn't let it show. Pity wasn't something his friend wanted from him. Before Ryoma could respond though Coach Ryuuzaki barged into the middle of their court and yelled at them to, "Get the hell off the court in this rain! You could get yourselves hurt!" which was a possibility now that Ryoma was thinking about it. Still didn't make him happy.

"Che. I was about to make a come back too."

"_What would you die for, Ryoma_?" A haunting voice called out at him that night. His mind was on overdrive, his body numb, as he whispered softly into the frigid, lonely, air: "Who knows?"

And really. Who knew _what _they would die for? Who knew _who _they would die for? Was their even an answer to a question like that? Thinking about it now, late in the night as he lay on his bed in his apartment, Ryoma couldn't help but wonder.

Would you even die at all?

Police call some murders accidental deaths that could have been prevented. Those words that sound insensitive but are just plain facts. "He was at the wrong place at the wrong time." What did they die for then? Did they die for something? Or did they just die?

With a sigh passing through slightly parted lips, Ryoma got up to look for his phone. Dialing the number he memorized the day he got it, Ryoma waited for the dial tone to end and for his friend to pick up.

"_Ryoma_?" Taking in a breath Ryoma prepared himself to ask.

"Sempai, what would you die for?"


	5. Chapter 5

**This one is eternally shorter than the rest! I just wanted to get this one out. I kinda like it short like this though. I mean this is a drabble series as well.** **I think I may end WWYDF on this note. -shrugs- Though I may do another segment of it consisting of a "Memory" aspect as well as a "Cope" aspect. Dunno for sure yet. Depends on if I get any reviews for this. So with that this will be temporarily complete!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

Once again that question was being asked. Fuji's grip on the phone tighted considerably as he stood shock still in thought. Sighing softly into the phone he gave Ryoma an answer. "I'll be honest, Ryoma. I don't want to die for anybody or anything. Adults try to make it seem like the answer is relatively simple, like asking what the weather is outside. But its honestly not." As he spoke Ryoma just quietly listened. The boy was so quiet that Fuji wondered if he was even listening anymore. "The teachers want an answer, a simple answer, of 'My family,' or 'My love,' though the actual probability of a human dying for another is very low."

"_You would've died for your brother wouldn't you?_" That question shocked Fuji more than the first one once he realized that yes. He would have died for Yuuta if he had been able to. Though he didn't answer Ryoma, instead choosing to ask a question of his own.

"What about you, Ryoma? What would you die for?" There was more silence between them, time ticking away slowly before Ryoma finally spoke.

"_I'll die for you, Sempai._" Ryoma's voice was honest, pure, and laced with the barest hint of sadness. "_It was the only thing I could think of to answer my own question. I don't want to die for myself. That just means I've died alone. I don't want to die for my family because I don't have a family to die for. I wouldn't die for love because I'm not in love with anyone. But I'll die for you, Sempai._"

Speechless, Fuji nearly dropped the phone he held in his hands. He was pretty sure his mouth resembled a fish out of water with how badly he was gaping. "Why?" He finally managed to choke out, tears gathering against his will in the corners of his eyes as the words sunk in.

"_Because you're my most cherished friend._" Ryoma stated, and Fuji could just imagine the determination in those beautiful golden eyes. How strange it was for them to be so close in such a short amount of time. "_Sempai,_" Ryoma paused then whispered, "_nevermind_."

With that Ryoma hung up the phone, leaving Fuji to deal with his thoughts in peace. Never before had he thought someone would tell him they would die for him. Especially someone who was essentially a stranger to him. So why was it that he didn't consider Ryoma a stranger? _Oh_, he thought, raising his hand up to cover his mouth, tears sliding down his cheeks as realization struck him, _we understand each other's pain_. That one thought cleared up the confusing torment occuring in Fuji's mind.

_Ryoma, I'll die for you too. But I won't tell you that. _


End file.
